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A neurologist in Colombia, he worked with the world’s largest extended family with Alzheimer’s and helped fuel research to prevent or delay dementia symptoms.
Dr. Francisco Lopera, a trailblazing neurologist who identified the world’s largest extended family with Alzheimer’s and spent decades working with them in his native Colombia, died on Tuesday at his home in Medellín. He was 73. The cause was metastatic melanoma.
His death was announced on social media by the neuroscience group at the University of Antioquia in Medellín, which Dr. Lopera led until last month, when he retired.
Dr. Lopera, a professor at the university for nearly 40 years, made significant discoveries in the field of Alzheimer’s. His work led to identifying the genetic cause of the extended family’s disease, helped pioneer efforts to find drugs to prevent or delay symptoms and spearheaded discoveries of genetic mutations that appear to be able to forestall cognitive decline.
He also spent tremendous time and energy providing care and information to patients and their relatives. He identified about 6,000 members of the large clan in Medellín and mountain villages in northwest Colombia. An estimated 1,200 of them were born with a genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer’s, with symptoms starting in their 40s and often causing death in their 60s.
“He was very devoted to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and trying to stop the disease, but he also knew that there were patients that were already facing the disease,” said Yakeel Quiroz, a Colombian neuropsychologist and director of the Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Massachusetts General Hospital who collaborated with Dr. Lopera and was among the many researchers he mentored.